In a herbarium of web forms, feedback forms would be the missing link between the regular Contact Form Minor and the Business Survey Officinalis. You know, the one that’s good for a tea and the other that you can use for a spicy homemade business pie. With a contact form you can receive simple messages from site visitors, while surveys gather in-depth information upon the matter. But feedback forms – why do we need them?
Harvesting feedback from customers, employees and stakeholders is a success-triggering business practice. You can focus your feedback request upon various topics and make your form as flexible as you want. It’s only healthy to regularly seek for information upon different points of view such as people’s perception over your service or product, over your web portal or customer service. You will be able to shape your business strategy the way it best meets the needs and wishes of your own public. Or, in other words, to bake the cake with the flavors customers requested.

People generally are keen on expressing their opinion upon services they have used, so the feedback process should go on smoothly on your side.

To make sure your form is a pleasant time-out for your users and also a useful tool for you, keep an eye on the following tips.

Pinpoint the burning topic

Are you launching a new brand image for your company? Revamping your website? Introducing a new line of products? Once you identify the main concern you need users input for, you will be able to choose the appropriate fields for your feedback form.

There are three things people need to perceive at one glance: who is there asking for their input, the product or service in question and the way they can express feedback quickly to move on to their daily duties. Make sure your form answers these points by a brief identification line followed by a clear field structure users can scan without scrolling.

Brevity is the soul of wit

As you already know, each form field you can cut out results in more submissions won over. You are asking people to jot down some lines of feedback, not compose an academic analysis of your business. Bear in mind just the central topic you need feedback on and focus your form accordingly.

The optimum structure for a feedback form includes one or two choice fields and a text box. It’s important to minimize typing stress but also leave room for self-expression. People can feel they have more to say than a likert scale permits, so give them the means to do it.

For the best user experience, make sure your form includes a link to the website in question, or some images to describe the product. People need to see, feel and maintain connection to the exact topic they provide feedback upon. A vivid presentation significantly increases form response rates.

Leverage social connections

The first and utmost step to gathering good feedback is to open conversations with your public, to be there for them and have a reachable presence in their familiar environment. If your audience is social media savvy and uses Facebook or Twitter on a regular basis, you have a great opportunity to extend your business reach. Share the feedback form on your Facebook fan page and synchronize it with your Twitter account. If you are a rather offline kind of person, you can still leverage the power of technology by printing a QR code with the link to your form on the paper receipts or business cards you are handing customers.

“Thank you” is golden in business

Definitely thank people for their feedback and make it obvious that you appreciate the time they gave you. The autoresponder feature of 123ContactForm makes it easy to send a nice message of gratitude to each person who fills in the form. You can either display the message on the screen upon form submission or, for a better chance to be remembered, send an individual email to the user – it’s all done with no effort on your side. In the email body you get the occasion to tell people how you are going to use feedback in practice and maybe introduce a small gift. Be creative!

About the Author

Laura Moisei is the Marketing Manager of 123ContactForm. She is in charge of business partners relations, research, strategy and all things marketing. Laura's daily delights are blogging, photography and good food.

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One Response to “How to Optimize Form Conversion Rates (4) – Feedback Forms”

[...] people who have used your product are goldmine for your marketing. Collect testimonials through an online feedback form with text boxes that give your customers the space to express their thoughts about your company in [...]